The YYF Popstar

Yo-Yo Reviews
1

What’s up YO Universe?!? Hope things are good in your neck of the woods.

Thanks for stopping by to read this review. I’ve been wanting to get to this one for some time now so here goes…

http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g358/Reddsigma/PopStar1.jpg

**Current YoYoExpert Price $25.99 (Sep 2011).

Appearance: The Popstar does indeed have the same shape as the famed Protostar. Imagine a mini Protostar. Next to a standard undersized yoyo, you’ll see just how much smaller it actually is. The current finishes are all solid tones and the coating on it does give it an interesting shiny reflection. Especially under tungsten. Looks like the light sensitive reflective patches of your sneakers. At least mine does. The model is very compact. Probably more compact than what you’d expect when you first look at it online. When I first got it way back when, I couldn’t get over how dense it looks. It’s like a fat little piece of dough. I thought wow, they really squeezed 66.5 grams into this??? I mean the Catalyst is 66.4 grams! So, yes they did…

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        http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g358/Reddsigma/Popstar3.jpg

Play/Feel: The feel of the object is rather narrow, yet thick and dense. It’s very compact and heavy. Heavy because of it’s small dimension. The center of gravity is very much felt in this one. Compared to something like a Dv888 or Chaotic, or SFX which are in and around its weight class, they all feel lighter in comparison. It feels smooth to the touch thanks to its finish and somewhat comfortable in the hand. If you’re a kid you’ll love it’s size. For an adult, you’ll feel a vacancy in the palm of your hand.

The play of this yoyo overall is good. Once you get used to its size and feel, it becomes a fun yoyo. But it does take more practice than normal with it. The yoyo is fairly smooth, and is a decent spinner, but not great. It doesn’t seem to have enough oomph for my longer combos. It has an excellent grinding surface for doing irgs or palm grinds etc. For adult hands, the inner rim has enough thumb space for a pretty good IRG. (I use large size adult gloves). It also has good balance and decent float. It has a nice wide gap so there’s no fear of snags or worry about how much string you can pile in there. And it can play slow or fast, for whatever your style is.

Probably the biggest thing going for it performance wise, is that you don’t need to worry about spaces between string segments during play. The Popstar easily hops and falls through whatever knots and tight spaces you’ve got going. And it’s a fairly comfortable thing to carry in your pocket.

   http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g358/Reddsigma/Popstar4.jpg

Conclusion: I like the popstar as I feel it’s a fun yoyo however. But I do have an issue with it and find room for improvement. I feel it lacks momentum. If it had a steeper wall and a deeper carved out cup to push weight further out, then I think we’d see improved momentum, stability and spin. Kind of like what String Theory did with the Singularity. Although the Singularity is not exactly a mini yoyo like the Popstar as you’ll see in the pics below, but it’s smaller than an undersized! And it has awesome momentum and spin and can play equally as well as some larger and heavier throws. Also the Singularity is only 1/2 gram more than the Popstar too. (But more expensive, of course).

I also feel they could shave a whole gram or two off the Popstar and make it even better. I think for its size to weight ratio, it could be awesome at 64 grams for example with a nicely carved out cup!. Right now it’s just too chunky. I love it’s size but I feel it needs to be tweaked.

Chances are you’re gonna love the Popstar as it is a capable throw, and fun to play with. Plus it’s reasonably priced but I feel the price ought to be adjusted now that the JK is around. So if you’re wanting to get an affordable metal mini, then the Popstar IS the choice and you will more than likely have fun with it.

And that’s really the whole point of the Popstar!! ;D

        http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g358/Reddsigma/Popstar5.jpg
2

Once again, great review. I love my popstar, and I feel that it is a great yoyo to perfect tricks on because it is so small and it forces you to be perfect. I also agree with you about the finish. It looks great. Does anyone know what it is?

1 Like
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Yeah the one word that best describes this yoyo is “FUN” lol I can throw it over and over again and stay entertained. You can definitely improve your accuracy and precision practicing with this yoyo. I recommend it to anyone who’s open to pocket throws. As for the finish I have no Idea :o

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THANKS a good quality review!

1 Like
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What’s up Big Cat! Thx for the comments. I dare say the paint is metallic enamel covered by a glass bead blast. What else would look like that? The thing shows depth. Stay cool.

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What’s up Tangelo! Yes I agree with your comments. This yoyo has taught me to be more flexible with my expectations and not be so strict all the time. Thx for stopping by!

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Your Welcome and thx to you for stopping by!

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I really really like the fact that you gave comparison shots and you are the first that I have ever seen to use a ruler in the pictures. I allways wanted a ruler or something like it to show size comparison so, top notch, I would say. Good review and make some more would you.

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Thx for the comments Slade. I was not sure if people dug the comparison images or not to be honest. I had them around and felt it would be extra helpful to use them this time around with a throw this small. I’ll review what’s in my library and will work on some more.

Thanks for reading and have a pleasant day.

R

10

From the pictures, you’ve almost convinced me to take off the z stacks from my 888x, and leave it bare. Almost. As for the review? The review was great, and the popstar seems like a good pocket yoyo. I want one! Im just not sure how small it would realy be? Cuz my 888x feels kinda small so the popstar is prolly like the size of an ant.

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Almost eh? I got better spin out of the 888x after taking out the hubstacks. You should try it out. in the last pic i posted you can see the popstar being a bit shorter in height, maybe less than a 1/4 inch or so. the popstar is not like the mighty flea. now that’s the size of an ant hehe.